Look, you know the Gordon Ramsay style by now...let's see what he can do with The Apprentice...but it's "different"...somehow.
The hodge podge of contestants is bad enough, clearly brought in for their rage inducing qualities and maybe vague relatable personal appeal? Though that gets threadbare when the group is split up into teams and given ridiculous challenges neither utilize whatever skill set these contestants have or feel like they reflect anything applicable to running a business. We're still trying to pretend, in the current year, that you can manufacture something viral...and that it's level of virality can then be judged? The complete boomer understanding of something like the TikTok challenge is a pretty good encapsulation of this shows ability to reach to a novel concept, but ruin it in execution.
The show needs to be retooled and really lean into the fact that it's a shameless The Apprentice knockoff. Let's continue to act as though Ramsay is a God King with increasingly crazier stunts, but add a couple of advisors...maybe a crusty old restaurantuer and one of Ramsay's fail children...to at least provide a venier of "youth understanding of the worlds ways".
The biggest problem of season one is that a lot of strong contestants stood up early to be team leaders and then were summarily destroyed by their lesser teammates. This happened so much that by the end of the show you clearly have a winner...and a bunch of talentless chaff hanging about. The Apprentice got like that at times, but usually the producers would milk the drama llamas JUST enough...then let them go. Not Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars... apparently Caroline's dad is his golf buddy or something because inextricably she has somehow survived the ENTIRE SEASON...having (to my anexdotal remembering) not once led any team challenge and predominantly being the cause of her teams demise in challenges. When the contestants gameplay is so blaringly obvious (do poorly in challenge, immediately find someone to throw under the bus during hot seat segments) to the viewer, who is watching an edited version of the events, it leads to a very boring watch. At least Ramsay keeps The Apprentice vibe in check, seemingly not worrying himself with contestants previous challenges success and continuing to float turds to the next round.